On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 581 Kaiping Three Years

In the third year of Kaiping (611 AD), in the first month of Meng Chun, he went to Tian.

The so-called Jitian is a kind of etiquette, that is, before spring plowing, the emperor personally goes to the fields to cultivate, which means to attach importance to farming.

Most of the emperors just held the oxen and walked a few steps in a symbolic way, but Cui Che was obviously serious. Not only did he go to the fields in person with a hoe, but Prince Cui Qiji was also brought over.

But Cui Che is now forty-two years old and is no longer young. Years of indulgence in drinking and sex have also made his physical strength much weaker than before.

After working in the fields all morning, Cui Che sweated profusely and was so tired that his back ached. He had to stop farm work and was breathing heavily while pounding the hoe.

Upon seeing this, Cui Qiji quickly dropped his hoe, calmed Cui Che's breath, and advised:

"Father, it's better to rest on the ridge for a while first. Don't hurt your body from fatigue."

Cui Che was not trying to be brave. He listened to the advice and nodded. Cui Che returned to the field. Cui Youzhi approached with a porcelain bowl:

"Grandfather, please have a bowl of herbal tea to quench your thirst."

Cui Che nodded with a smile, took the tea bowl and drank it all in one gulp, then said to Cui You:

"Go and give your father a bowl too."

Seven-year-old Cui Youzhi agreed, scooped up another bowl of tea for Cui Qiji, and carefully walked down the field to deliver it to his father.

Cui Che watched Cui Qiji and Cui Youzhi working in the fields after drinking tea, his eyes full of joy.

At dusk, the three members of the Cui family, surrounded by officials, returned to Luoyang City.

The Luoyang palace was completed in July last year. After Cui Che sent people to check and accept it, he immediately issued an edict to move the capital. Along with them, the family members of the Yan warriors went south.

"Grandfather, can my grandson go to the mausoleum to pay homage to his grandmother tomorrow?"

Cui Youzhi asked.

When Cui Qiji heard this, he glared at Cui Youzhi fiercely, as if scolding him for not mentioning Yang Lihua, which made Cui Che sad.

Yang Lihua has been in poor health since she fell ill at the beginning of last year. She finally failed to survive the winter of last year and passed away in Luoyang Palace at the age of fifty.

Cui Che and Yang Lihua were deeply in love as husband and wife, and they were hit as hard as Cui Zhaorong's death.

For this reason, he did feel depressed for some time.

Fortunately, Cui Che has now come out of his inner haze. Cui Che gently put his hand on Cui Youzhi's thin shoulder and said:

"Grandpa will go with you tomorrow."

Yang Lihua was buried in Mangshan, a mausoleum built by Cui Che for himself.

As early as when Yang Lihua's health was deteriorating, Cui Che asked Wei Zheng to supervise the construction of the palace in Luoyang, and also recruited civilians to build a mausoleum for him in advance.

The couple, including Yang Awu, must be buried together in the future.

The next day, Cui Che took Cui Youzhi to the Yuan Palace of the mausoleum. After Cui Youzhi paid homage to Yang Lihua, Cui Che stayed alone in the mausoleum, looking at the portrait of his late wife enshrined, the memories of the past came to mind again, and he couldn't help but shed tears.

Today, Cui Che can no longer remember whether he married Yang Lihua out of love or because she was Yang Jian's eldest daughter.

But Cui Che knew that this woman loved him wholeheartedly and gave everything for him for twenty-seven years.

When Cui Che walked out of the mausoleum, he had wiped away his tears, but his red and swollen eyes could not deceive anyone.

"Go back."

Cui Che took Cui Youzhi's hand and left slowly.

Back at Luoyang Palace, Yang Awu came over after hearing the news. The death of her eldest sister also made her lose a lot of weight.

After Yang Lihua passed away, only Yang Awu could bring Cui Che spiritual comfort.

Cui Che held Yang Awu in his arms and was silent for a long time.

On the same day, Cui Che sent an order to Zhongshu Province to build a house next to Yuan Palace, the mausoleum, and order the palace maids and eunuchs to live there and serve the dead Queen Yang Lihua as if they were living people.

Although Zhongshu Ling Doulu Yu knew that this move was not in line with etiquette, he did not dare to go against Cui Che's wishes, so he asked his subordinate Zhongshu Sheren to draft the edict and send it to Menxia Province for review by Pei Xiu, the servant.

Pei Xiu knew that Cui Che was trying to remember his late wife, so how could he cause trouble for him.

However, when the edict was sent to Shangshu Province and was ready to be handed over to the Ministry of Works for implementation, it was stopped by Shangshu Zuopushi Wei Zheng.

The Ministry of Industry fell under Zuopushe, which was within Wei Zheng's scope of authority.

Wei Zheng appealed to Cui Che and advised Cui Che to withdraw the edict on the grounds that he only had the method of maintaining and making offerings in the palace but not the rituals of guards on the mausoleum.

Cui Che read Wei Zheng's memorial, called him into Luoyang Palace, and said:

"I have been married to the queen for twenty-seven years. In the early years, I fought in all directions and had no time to care about her feelings. I even needed her to use her own food to support the family.

"While I was overcoming obstacles and building a foundation, the queen's beauty has grown old.

"Now that the Queen has abandoned me, I feel very guilty.

"In order to prevent the queen from feeling lonely and desolate in Mang Mountain, I issued an edict to build a house in Yuangong and let the eunuchs and maids who served her during her lifetime go to Mang Mountain to accompany the queen.

"I usually don't like luxury and live a frugal life. Now I just want to do something for my deceased wife. Do you still want to pressure me with etiquette?"

Cui Che's mood was stable and did not fluctuate too much.

This was unexpected by Wei Zheng, who was already prepared to bear Cui Che's wrath.

Cui Che continued:

"I am very pleased that Wei Pushe dared to speak out and give advice, but although I am the emperor, I am also an ordinary person, and I have seven emotions and six desires.

"As for today's matter, Wei Pushe should stop trying to persuade me. I have already made up my mind.

"When I am about to die and can be with my late wife in person, I will leave a legacy and ask the prince to demolish the Yuangong house."

After saying that, Cui Che stared at Wei Zheng intently.

Wei Zheng is just upright, but not stupid. Cui Che said everything for this reason, so he could only accuse Cui Che again and again.

Cui Che helped Wei Zheng up. Not only did he not blame Wei Zheng, he even rewarded Wei Zheng with some silk cloth to commend Wei Zheng for his loyalty and outspokenness.

After all, Cui Che himself knew that Wei Zheng was not wrong. It was indeed against etiquette and law to build a house next to Yuan Palace and house maids and eunuchs.

Without Wei Zheng's obstruction, the Ministry of Industry immediately took up the matter.

After a truce for two years, the national treasury gradually became richer and there was peace both inside and outside.

Although there were frequent border conflicts with the Sui Dynasty in the south, there were no large-scale battles between them.

Cui Che naturally wanted to recuperate and wait until he was fully prepared before launching the southern expedition.

After Yang Guang inspected the Jiankang Palace, he moved the capital to the south of the Yangtze River.

Yang Guang was lucky enough that Cui Che didn't call, and he no longer had any intention of recovering the lost territory during the Northern Expedition.

But the temporary peace is just preparation for the future war. Yang Guang is also clear about this.

He did not choose the Northern Expedition because he did not want to use his own shortcomings to attack the other party's strong points.

Yang Guang was working hard in the south and never relaxed his preparations for war.

Only by relying on the power of Zhouji to severely damage the northern elites under Cui Che can it be possible to regain the north.

And Cui Che did not fight an unprepared battle. In the past two years, he had been gathering information through his spies in the Sui Dynasty.

(End of chapter)